Belgium - Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp

BELGIUM, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp

A year ago I was invited to attend a meeting in Brussels by the Signature Travel Network, which I am a member of. This was an honor, since only sixty agency President’s from the U.S.A. were invited. When the terrorist attack took place at the Brussels airport a few days before our meeting, I was waiting to hear that it had been was cancelled but the President decided we should keep to our schedule. I was only 3 days in Brussels, then went to join the group on the Uniworld new river cruise boat, the MarieTheresa in Antwerp for a cruise on the Dutch waterways to Amsterdam.

I changed my plans to take the train from Amsterdam to Brussels instead of flying. Rail Europe does an outstanding job, I had lunch on the train, which took an hour and a half. The information booth at the station rang the hotel to tell them what train I would be on, and they arranged to have a driver and car meet me.

I have never seen so much security in my life. There must have been 200 soldiers at Brussels Midi train station, as well as policemen everywhere. There was a row of huge armored vehicles outside the station, and the 200 room hotel which I was staying at had only five occupants so you know they had a mass of cancellations. It was a strange experience, no one on the streets, no traffic, and an empty hotel.

It was Easter, and all over Europe, they shut down for the four day holiday. . Easter and the terrorists made the government ask people to stay home, and it was like a ghost town. I did take a city tour one day, and was picked up from the hotel by a bus, with driver and a guide. I was the only passenger so had a VIP tour. We talked a lot about politics, and the frightening situation in the country. Brussels reminded me of Paris, lovely buildings, lots of parks, wide boulevards and taking a tour is the best way to see the city. It is famous for chocolate, lace, and mussels. Unfortunately, the chocolate factory tour only takes place on Tuesday and Thursday, so I missed doing that. Brussels is a great convention or meeting town since it is so much cheaper than London or Paris.

I went to join some colleagues and had dinner with the General Manager of the Amigo Hotel which was lovely. He had just left London to take up this new position, and I told him we use Brown’s Hotel where he had been previously and I am planning to stay there when I go home to visit family later in the year.

People were shocked at the terrorist attack. Belgium has 11 million people, and one million people live in the city of Brussels. With the European Union having 28 different countries , I was told it is like the orchestra that played on the Titanic, they are faced with financial debt crisis, refugees, and now terrorism. They speak three languages, French, German and Flemish and everyone can speak English. The flags were all at half mast, and the train was bombed just one stop from the Euro Commission building which has 30,000 foreigners working there. At the underground entrance to the train, people had left candles and flowers.

Normally, I would have visited the flea market, gone to church on Sunday, and one of the 100 museums but I had promised my husband I would not go walking alone and since the town was on total shut down, nothing was open. The fact that it was very cold, and wet, made it all the more miserable.

I was delighted to join up with some of my colleagues for a bus trip to Ghent and Bruges. Only 45 mins by autoban, thru farmlands. Both a must if you are in Belgium.

Two delightful old towns, lots of chocolate shops and cheese shops. The Belgium people believe that chocolate can cure everything, you can even have a chocolate massage, and they think beer is healthier than water. There are 1500 different kinds of beer for you to choose from. Lovely cathedral in Ghent, and if you watch the movie with George Clooney, “Monuments Men” it will tell you about a team recovering all the priceless art work after World War 11 which has four Rubens paintings on display.

One story which made me chuckle. There is a bar with very unusual beer glasses in Ghent. So many were getting pinched by customers, that now they insist you leave your shoes at the door, and you get them back when you turn in the glass.

Antwerp was a delightful host to the U.S. travel delegation. We had a cocktail party and everyone was told that there was a “stone” in the bottom of their champagne glass and someone in the room had a real diamond in it. During the party we could go and have it spooned out of the glass and weighed. Unfortunately I didn’t win the diamond, but it was a fun evening. The must see is the Cathedral of Our Lady, which has four splendid masterpieces by Peter Paul Rubens who lived in Antwerp.

People thanked us for visiting Belgium and they are very concerned that the recent terrorist act will ruin the travel industry which so many people rely on.

Interesting experience. I was extra careful when I was out, and was glad I went.

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

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Menlo Park, CA 94025

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